Between a Flock and a Hard Place
by Aura24
Summary: The young dragons of the Village insults a passing sheep named Toasty, who soon gets his revenge by framing Spyro, and other young dragons for theft and vandalism. Can Spyro and his friends prove their innocence, before they're driven out or worse? R&R!
1. Part 1

**Setting: **Story set in A Hero's Tail universe.  
**Disclaimer: **Spyro, Sparx, and other related characters (c) Universal

**Between a Flock and a Hard Place**

**Part 1**

_In the Dragon Village..._

Within the walls of a dragon home, a Magic Crafter named Coltrane was fast asleep in his bedroom that was being shared with a young Peace Keeper around his age, Grayson. Grayson, however, was wide awake and was playing with a light blue crystal he discovered recently. Suddenly, a faint, but bleeting chorus echoed from somewhere around the two dragons, as Coltrane tossed and turned in his bed, grunting softly.

He finally sat up, agigated and glared over at Grayson. "Confound it, Grayson." Coltrane groaned, "Unless the crystal you found, most annoying sound ever, would you mind turning it down?"

Grayson grumbled, "It's not me, Crafter head. It's them." He guestered to the window with a wing.

"Huh?" Coltrane lifted his front legs to raise himself up, and looked out the window. To his surprise, a flock of wild sheep were grazing about uncontrollably the yard.

Moments later, a large grey dog darted into the yard, its black eyes glaring at the flock. Three bumpy spines grew on its back and around its neck was a shepherd's collar. The canine bounded into the center of the flock of sheep, calling out, "Come on, sheep! Keep the line!" He then barked sharply, "Ruff ruff!"

Suddenly, upon hearing the bark of their shepherd, the sheep were hypnotized; their eyes each displayed a spinning, black and white spiral, as they obediently formed a line in front of the Dog without hesitation. As long as the Dog had his shepherd's collar, he can control the sheep to make sure they don't cause any trouble or stray far.

From inside the home, Coltrane snorted at the sight of the flock, "Sheep. Why, if my Fire and Ice elements were at full power, I'd..." He opened his mouth threatenly, a burning inferno raging behind his jaws... The young Magic Crafter closed his mouth, and sighed, only allowing steam to escape his nostrils, "Oh well. If my ferocity and elemental powers can't solve this problem, I'll just have to use my razor sharp wit instead." He looked back out the window, peering at the flock outside.

Among the flock of wild sheep, a male sheep was tired of the fact that the Dog shepherd was ordering him and the flock around. This sheep was the only one in the flock who had singed, gray wool as a result of the neighboring young dragons toying with him with their fire. The local residents call him Toasty, due to his wool looking burnt. He was also the only one who wore a bell around his neck, due to his mischievous habit of running off.

Toasty was standing in front of a sheep from his flock, who was chewing on a patch of grass in his mouth. The gray sheep groaned to his friend, "Argh, Bo, don't ever get tired of doing whatever that Dog says?" He leered at the Dog, "I mean, who appointed him king of the sheep? When he says 'ruff', we leave. When he says 'Ruff ruff', we walk. When he says 'Ruffity ruff ruff', we stop."

The Dog popped up and barked at Toasty and Bo to silence their conversation, "Ruff ruff!" Both Toasty and Bo stiffened up in place as they were hypnotized, staring blankly and quietly at each other until the hypnosis wore off shortly afterwards.

"Hey, sheep!" Coltrane called out, opening the window, as he decided to make jokes about the sheep, "Why did the sheep cross the road? Because the Sheperd dog told him to! Hahahahahaha!" He chortled loudly.

Hearing the joke, Toasty angrily turned back to Bo and complained, "See? That's just what I'm talking about! We're laughing stocks, and I'm sick of it!"

"Toasty!" The Dog growled, appearing and standing by the sheep, hearing Toasty's outburst.

Toasty blinked, "Huh?" And before he could react, the Dog barked at the gray sheep to silence him, "Ruff ruff!" Instantly, Toasty was hypnotized. The gray sheep stood there silently, blinking his eyes slowly until the hypnosis wore off again.

"Ooh ooh, I got one, Coltrane!" Grayson sneered, rising up from bed and approaching the window as Coltrane stepped aside eagerly. He chortled at Toasty, "Hey! Heard about the sheep with the original thought? Neither have I! Ahahahahahaha!"

Toasty narrowed his eyes and angrily shouted at Coltrane and Grayson, "Hey! Try saying that to my face-"

"Toasty!" The Dog snarled suddenly, and as Toasty looked at the herding dog, the canine silenced him again, "Ruff!" Toasty was then hypnotized into silence, and the Dog left the gray sheep alone to check on the other sheep.

Toasty was left standing like a statue for a few moments, but he shook his head vigorously, quickly relieving himself of the hypnosis. He glared furiously. "That's the last _straw_!" He declared angrily, before the gray sheep darted towards the Dog.

While the Dog was busy sniffing at a tree nearby, ready to mark his territory, Toasty came up to the Dog from behind with his back facing the canine. He reared up his back hooves, and kicked the Dog's rear as hard as he could, suprisingly sending the canine flying high into the air. The Dog yelped loudly and sharply as he was suddenly sent flying far into the sky, disappearing into the far distance.

Toasty followed the fleeting form of the Dog with a sneer, until the shepherd's collar practically fell around his neck, halfway covering his bell. "Have a nice flight." He grinned, then looked to the flock and announced, "Alright! I'm in charge now!"

The flock of sheep simply looked and blinked at Toasty quietly; they didn't show any signs of opposing nor reacted to the sudden change of leadership.

Toasty spoke out again, "Let me _rephrase_ that: Ruff ruff, ruff ruff, ruff."

Almost instantly, the flock was hypnotized, marching towards Toasty. Since Toasty is the current shepherd, with the possession of the shepherd's collar, he can now use the word 'Ruff' to control the flock.

Toasty was nearly shocked at the sight of the hypnotized flock; a smile growing on his face, "It worked! Ha ha ha!" He grinned, as he looked at the flock of sheep walking around him and began making their way towards the fields, "Looks like there's a new shepherd in town. _By the name of Toasty!_"

"Brainless followers!"

Toasty glared up at the castle, looking to the window Coltrane and Grayson were looking out through. The two dragons snickered and laughed after making one last joke, before they withdrew back into their room, and closed the window to get some shut eye.

Toasty narrowed his eyes with a slight growl, "Rrr. And the first thing I'm going to do, is put those dragons in their place." He grinned, having conducted a plan to get back at the the dragons who ridiculed him..


	2. Part 2

**Part 2**

Later that morning, the Dragon Elder Tomas was out on his morning walk. As he was passing the pasture where the dragon statue is place, he turned to look at the graceful gaze of the statue, but instead widened his eyes in shock. Instead of being in its usual green state, the Dragon Statue was covered in green paint, scribbled messily with black markers, and was wearing armor similar to Gnasty Gnorc's.

A horrified Tomas practically let his staff drop from his hand...

00000

"The dragon statue, vandalized!"

In front of the statue, stood Spyro the Dragon, the nursery keeper Nana, Hunter, as well of Tomas. They had gathered to check and investigate who would scribble and also destroy the Dragon Village's private property.

Hunter turned to Tomas, "But it would take a bunch of, say, people to repaint this entire statue to look like Gnasty Gnorc in one night..."

Spyro muttered, "If only there was some sort of clue..."

"A clear kind of clue." Sparx responded, "Bzzz..."

"Ruff ruff!" A voice rang out from afar.

Tomas, Nana, Hunter, Spyro and Sparx looked towards the fields to the source of the voice.

"Hey look!" Hunter pointed out.

In the distance, Toasty was leading his flock of sheep through the fields before walking off to the other side of the pasture. However, they weren't what the group was looking at...

Hunter was spying a trail of tracks leading to the statue, and the trail was dotted around its now green surface. "Dragon tracks! Small ones!" He exclaimed.

Recognizing the dragon size of the tracks, Tomas turned to Spyro with a stern glare, "Were you here last night, Spyro?"

"Huh?" Spyro blinked, "No, I..."

Hunter asked, "Spyro, how could you?" He was unable to believe that his best bud would do such a heinous act.

"Huh?" Spyro jumped, "I didn't do this!"

"Then why are there dragon tracks here?" Nana questioned, "At your size?"

Spyro began, "Well..."

"Spyro wouldn't do a thing like this!" Sparx defended.

Tomas responded, "I don't know, Spyro, but I know you hang around this statue sometimes." His gaze softened slightly, "But...you say, you're innocent. I may as well believe you, after all you've done for the Dragon Realms."

"This time!" Nana added with a glare.

Nearby, and out of sight, Toasty and his flock of sheep were hidden behind the bushes, watching the group from afar and had listened their conversation.

"But what about the next time?" Toasty muttered, looking to his flock, "Because making those dragon tracks was just the beginning. Oh yeah." He sneered evilly at the sight of Spyro looking nervous and shocked at the sudden accusation of vandalizing the Dragon Statue, "That purple pipsqueak and his buddies are going _bye-bye_..."


	3. Part 3

**Part 3**

_A few hours later..._

"My store!" The bear shopkeeper, Moneybags, was standing out his shop, horrified at the sight of his store damaged and wrecked inside and out, his items are also stolen. Tomas, Nana, and Hunter were gathered at the scene, investigating on what had happened, "My items, my sales...Ruined!" Moneybags exclaimed, lowering his head sadly.

Nearby, and out of sight, Toasty was overlooking the scene, sneering evilly. A little while ago, he hypnotized his flock of sheep to steal several items from Moneybag's store and also wrecked its interior while the shopkeeper was away and no one in sight.

"Phase 2." Toasty sneered, quickly hiding the flock of sheep behind the bushes, before leering at two approaching young dragons, "And enter the goody-two shoes."

Flame and Ember happened to be walking down the path near Moneybag's shop, unaware of Toasty and his sheep hidden in the bushes.

Toasty sharply turned to the sheep. "Let the cud fly!" He ordered.

The sheep had their mouths full, chewing their cud of stolen food as they looked at Toasty, unwilling to let go of their delicious treat.

Toasty glared and barked at the sheep, "Ruff, Ruff Ruff Ruff!" The sheep were instantly hypnotized, and one by one, they spewed out globs of various fruits and bread from their mouths as Toasty ordered, towards Flame and Ember.

"What the?" Flame exclaimed, stopping in his tracks before the cud of food splattered over him and Ember.

Ember shrieked, trying to shake the mess off, "EW!"

"There!" A voice shouted, as Tomas spotted Flame and Ember nearby, but was confused at the sight of them covered in a globby mess.

Nana gasped, "It's Flame and Ember, covered in food!"

Moneybags immediately recognized the chewed up labels that were sticking to Flame and Ember's bodies, and snarled furiously, "That was _my_ fruit and vegatables I was planning to sell for the village as a profit! Thieves!" He began running towards them with a venomous glare.

"Uh oh!" Flame moaned, "Run!" The red dragon quickly started scurrying away.

Ember cried out as she ran away along with Flame, "Wait! We didn't do anything!"

Toasty snickered, leering at Flame and Ember, before hiding back behind the cover of the tree along with the rest of the sheep. Flame and Ember scurried by, fleeing frantically from an angry Moneybags who soon gew tired of running after two dragons. He glared at the two dragons, seeing them running towards the distant hills as Tomas, Nana, and Hunter stood behind him.

"And don't come back!" Moneybags roared angrily, shaking his fist to the air at the fleeing forms of Flame and Ember...


	4. Part 4

**Part 4**

_That night..._

Near the Dragon Village, Toasty and his flock of sheep crept towards the home where Coltrane and Grayson were living in. The gray sheep stopped in the yard, and turned to his flock.

"Ruff ruff!" Toasty barked softly, and the sheep were hypnotized to leap up onto the ledges of the home and into the open window. They each landed in Coltrane and Grayson's bedroom, where the two dragons were sound asleep.

Once Toasty was inside, he glared over at Coltrane and Grayson, remembering them as few of the dragons who directly insulted him before his leadership of the shepherd. He crept atop of Grayson's bed, catching sight of the Peace Keeper's crystal laying beside him.

"Well, well, the know-it-all's crystal." Toasty muttered, grabbing hold of the crystal with his mouth, "Well, dragon homes _are_ meant for storing things." The gray sheep grinned evilly at the thought of another plan, before leaping over Coltrane's bed and out of the window with a snicker, "Heheheh!"

However, the flock of sheep were still inside the bedroom.

Nearly forgetting about his flock, Toasty's head peaked in through the window and he barked at them softly, commanding them to follow him, "Ruff ruff."

One by one, the sheep began leaping over Cotrane's bed in their hypnotized state, following after Toasty.

Hearing some noise, Coltrane shot up awake to see what was going on, but was stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of sheep leaping over his head. As his eyes followed the sheep one by one, the sight of them made Coltrane believe he was counting sheep to fall asleep, and the young Magic Crafter felt drowsy and dropped back into bed as the rest of the sheep left the home completely and disappeared into the night...

0000

"Ahh...what a nice day.." Coltrane sighed, happily glancing at the sun outside the window.

Grayson grumbled softly, as he was not much of a morning dragon. He sleepily opened his eyes, "Yeah, a very _bright_ morning you mean..."

"MY BOW!"

Both Coltrane and Grayson jumped at the sound of a yell outside. The two dragons quickly looked outside the nearest window to see what was the commotion, "Huh?"

Outside, in the town square nearby, Hunter was on his knees, holding on what remains of his bow, which had been smashed and crushed to pieces. Tomas and Moneybags were there with the cheetah warrior.

"My bow!" Hunter moaned sadly, "Who coulda done something this cruel? I had this thing since I was little!"

Nana then came running frantically out of the nursery, sobbing desperately, "And some of the dragon eggs are gone!" She exclaimed fearfully, "Oh this is dreadful! And this is what I found in the nursery where the eggs were stolen from!" She pulled out a crystal, which looks exactly like Grayson's.

"Grayson's crystal!" Hunter gasped, then comes to a realization, "Why that little runt! He and Coltrane must've done this!"

Moneybags saw a trail of dragon tracks leading to the house of Grayson and Coltrane. "And there are dragon tracks leading to their house!" He responded.

"I say let's have a talk with those two...a talk." Tomas suggested, as his eyes gave a stern glare, "A _long _talk." He, Hunter, Moneybags, and Nana began making their way towards the house.

"Uh oh!" Grayson moaned, turning to Coltrane, "They think we smashed Hunter's bow and stole the dragon eggs!"

Coltrane retorted, "But we don't have them!"

Grayson and Coltrane suddenly stiffened in fright, and slowly turned their heads to the remainder of the room they hadn't paid attention to, only to find scattered pieces of Hunter's bow and the missing dragon eggs laying about on the floor around them.

"Oh poo..." Coltrane moaned.

Suddenly, there were several knocks on the door of the house, and Coltrane and Grayson looked at each other in growing fear, as they heard the door open and footsteps began running towards their room.

As soon as the adults reached the bedroom, Grayson and Coltrane had already fled through their open window...


	5. Part 5

**Part 5**

It was late at night. After sneaking through the village without attracting unwanted attention from the residents, Spyro and Sparx called a secret meeting in an abandoned dragon home for the young dragons who had also been framed by the mysterious group of criminals. Flame and Ember arrived first, and several minutes later, Grayson and Coltrane arrived quickly, having been ditching and dodging the residents all day.

"Took you guys long enough." Spyro said softly.

"It hasn't been easy..." Grayson groaned, panting softly, "You try outrunning a small crowd of angry parents of the Dragon Eggs."

"So is everyone here?" "Good. Now, we all know what we have in common right now. We're being framed, and blamed for something we did do recently.

"Yeah! We've been blamed for stealing food and items from Moneybags." Flame explained, "But gunks of the food just landed on us while we were just walkin'."

Ember added, "And it took almost forever to wash the smell off too." She shuddered with digust, "Ew..."

Grayson spoke out, "And me and Coltrane have been framed for taking some of the Dragon Eggs and smashing Hunter's bow."

"Smashing Hunter's bow, and stealing Dragon Eggs?" Spyro repeated, then also added, "I've been framed for vandalizing the Dragon statue with the clothes and color of Gnasty Gnorc."

"Whoa really?" Grayson jumped with a smirk, surprised, "Who would've pulled that off?"

"Bzz...this stinks... Bzzz.." Sparx groaned, hovering beside Spyro, "The adults won't believe us, and they'll probably punish us...Bzzz..."

"We gotta find out the culprits! And I mean, now and fast!" Grayson suggested urgently, "I don't even want to think what the grown-ups will do to us if these crooks did another publicity crime framing us."

Spyro spoke out, "Think. What place in the Dragon Village the Elder told us to not ruin and be careful in?"

All young dragons and dragonfly silence their conversation and beginning to think and wonder where in the Village the culprits will strike next.

"..."

After a few moments, Spyro finally came to a realization, "The Grand Garden!"

Coltrane questioned, "You mean the Garden that has flourished the most nicest flowers and foliage in the Dragon Realms?"

"Oh no!" Ember cried, "If the culprits did something there, they'll put the blame on us!"

Spyro's eyes hardened with determination. "Then that's where we'll catch them, come on!" He said quickly, before darting out of the door trailed by Sparx, Ember, Flame, Coltrane, and Grayson.

00000

Quickly as they can, Spyro, Sparx, Flame, Ember, Grayson, and Coltrane scurried quietly through the fields of the Dragon Village until they reached the outskirts of the Grand Garden. In the distance, within the Garden, were a group of blurry black creatures with white wool.

Sparx exclaimed quietly, "Bzzz! They're there!"

"As we suspected." Spyro smirked, before he Sparx, Flame, Ember, Coltrane, and Grayson quickly crept closer to the Garden until they got close enough see the culprits who has been framing them. They all spied Toasty in the Grand Garden, watching his flock of sheep devour the glorious flowers.

"Graze, my sheep, graze!" Toasty heartily encouraged his flock as he let them eat away at the flowers and grass, watching his next plan go underway, "Free grass and flowers for all! And those barfing little dragons gets the blame again!" He sneered evilly, surveying his flock eating all the foliage in the Garden.

After listening to the flock and Toasty, the young dragons couldn't believe their eyes and ears.

"Sheep!" Ember gasped softly.

Coltrane widened his eyes when he reognized Toasty. "That gray sheep!" He said softly, turning to Spyro, "It must've been that gray sheep from our lawn the other night!"

"Toasty!" Spyro suddenly shouted, becoming enraged as he leapt out of the bushes and charged towards the flock, "Hey, Mr. Barbecue sheep!" Flame, Ember, Grayson, and Coltrane quickly followed him closely to join in on the charge to get the culprits.

Toasty heard a shout turned his head, and to his horror, saw Spyro and the other young dragons charging at him and his flock. "Uh oh! Ruff ruff!" He barked, quickly ordering his flock of sheep to follow him and hide, hypnotizing them, as Toasty led the sheep behind a tree and the bushes behind it.

Tomas, Nana, Hunter, and Moneybags happened to be nearby, being on guard for any suspicious characters and also for the young dragons who had been "causing trouble" lately. They all perked their heads up at the sound of a commotion in the Grand Garden.

"What is that?" Nana asked, hearing the shouts.

"It came from the Grand Garden!" Tomas exclaimed, "Let's hurry!" Without hesitation, the grown-ups quickly began making their way to the Grand Garden as fast as they could.

By the time, Spyro, Sparx, Flame, Ember, Grayson, and Coltrane were about to ambush the sheep in hiding, the residents of the Village stepped in the garden ground, gasping at the sight of the young dragons there all in one group.

"Aha! Caught you all in the act!" Hunter exclaimed with a glare, and the young dragons turned their heads in shock and horror when they realized they were found out.

Spyro responded defensively, "This isn't what it looks like!"

Tomas then surveyed the damage property, his grip on his staff tightening at the sight of the flowers smashed and ripped to pieces, the rich soil unearthed and messy, and the grass uprooted across the ground. He glared venomously at the young dragons, "Children, I am outraged! After all the heinous actions you have done, you now destroy the Garden our ForeElders left for us?"

"It was the sheep!" Ember cried desperately, "They were just here! Honest!"

"Yeah, they were the ones who did all those crimes! Not us!" Flame added.

"You expect us to believe that?" Nana asked, glaring at the young dragons, "A good punishment should do you young ones some good!"

"But punishment is such a...such a..." Grayson stuttered, partly nervous, "What's the word...? An R word...?"

Coltrane finally snapped, "The word is _rough_, Grayson!" Angrily, he started repeating the word loudly, knowing that he and his friends will be in trouble anyways, "Rough rough rough rough rough...!"

Suddenly, behind the refuge of the tree and bushes, the flock sheep widened their eyes and were hypnotized at the sound of the word "rough". To Toasty's horror, the flock was hypnotized at the sound of the word "rough", which sounded exactly like the barking word "Ruff" he and the Dog Shepherd used to hypnotize the flock.

A lone sheep poked its head from behind the tree, before it and the rest of the flock walked out from behind it and quickly walked towards the dragons in a large group, obeying their new sudden shepherd's call of the one who is calling them and gathering near Coltrane.

Tomas, Hunter, Nana, Moneybags, and the young dragons, besides the angry Coltrane who was still repeating the word "rough", were shocked to see the sheep emerging from their hiding place and revealing themselves to them.

"Rough rough rough! Rough rough rough...!"

At the same moment, Toasty was the only sheep remaining behind the tree, trying to fight off the hypnotic hononym of "Ruff" Coltrane was still shouting on. In his realization, even when he did have the shepherd's collar, someone else can control the sheep as the flock was so used to word "Ruff" that any word that sounded like "Ruff" would hypnotize the flock, including Toasty himself.

"No!" Toasty widened his eyes in disbelief, as he closed his eyes and clutched his head with his hooves, trying to ignore the chanting words, "Must...re...sist!" However, the hypnotic barking prove too familiar for Toasty, and he too was hypnotized in a flash. The gray sheep groggily walked out from behind the tree, emiting a slurring bleating sound as he walked towards the dragons to join the rest of the hypnotic flock. "Baaaaa! Baaa-aaa...Baaa..."

It was then until Coltrane stopped repeating the word "rough", does Tomas have the chance to speak out. "Well I'll be, the young ones were _right_ about the sheep!" He said, looking at the flock of sheep with disbelief.

Sparx spoke out to the grown-ups, "Bzz! That's what we've been trying to tell you!"

"Hm?"Coltrane finally turned his head, and jumped at the sight of the flock of sheep standing near him, after being hypnotized to come to the young Magic Crafter.

Tomas began slowly, "So the sheep were the ones who vandalized the Dragon Statue."

"And ruined my store and sales.." Moneybags added.

Hunter responded, "And the ones who broke my bow, and stole some of the Dragon Eggs."

"To frame us!" Coltrane finished, sighing in relief, happy that he and his friends' names have been cleared.

Suddenly, the Dog shepherd walked out of the blue towards the crowd, wearing purple sunglasses and a flower necklace around his neck as if he had been sent somewhere far away during his absence after Toasty kicked him far away. "Hey, thanks for watching my flock." The Dog said with a smile, "I needed the vacation. Hope they weren't any trouble."

"Uh, well..." Spyro began, about to explain about the flock's rampage to the Dog.

But the Dog turned to the flock, quickly ready to resume his job back as shepherd, "Ruff ruff!" Obediently, the hypnotized flock of sheep began following their true, responsible shepherd in a straight line as the Dog lead them away from the crowd. Toasty, now once again just another sheep in the flock, was last in line as he trailed after the flock in his hypnotize state.

Hunter stepped forward with a warm smile, "Sorry, we didn't believe you guys. I should've known that you wouldn't do all those things, Spyro."

"Ooh yes, you are a hero of the Dragon Realms." Nana agreed, "And your little friends were innocent too."

"You have our sincerest and deepest apologies, young ones." Tomas responded, smiling softly.

"Hey, no big deal. We were wanting a little excitement around here anyways. Right guys?"

"Uh right." Grayson smiled faintly, before muttering, "A bit of excitement of running and screaming in terror of being caught by crazy adults.."

"Finally, I'm glad that's over.." Ember sighed with relief, her muzzle forming a smile.

"Sorry about your bow, Hunter.." Spyro said, a little remorseful.

Hunter replied, "Aw, it's okay. I'll buy a new one from Moneybags, if he has anyone for sale."

"I believe that can be arranged, for a few gems. Eheheheh." Moneybags chuckled with a hearty laugh.

Spyro yawned softly and spoke out, "Man, I'm tired. Let's all get some shut eye. All this excitement made me exhausted.

Later on, we'll help you guys clean up the damage those sheep did to frame us with."

"Ooh, it would mean so much to us, Spyro." Nana smiled.

Sparx buzzed in with a smirk, as he followed Spyro and the others back to the comforting atmosphere of the Village, "Bzz! I agree with you there, purple boy."


End file.
